We imitated statues, climbed over 1,000 steps, and found out Snapchat filters work on world renowned masterpieces

After sleeping in slightly, Abbe and I headed to Boboli Gardens. These gardens are the botanical gardens that are attached to the Pitti Palace and are a 5 minute walk from my house. We were blown away! Boboli Gardens is HUGE and beautiful! We explored every pathway and ran into lots of dead ends. A house on the property looks exactly like how I imagine Uncle Monty's house from The Series of Unfortunate Events would be.
One, if not our favorite part of Boboli Gardens was imitating the statues we found along the way. We were a little shy at first and didn't want to do it in front of other people but we quickly got over that and were imitating the rest of the statues we saw. It was so beautiful now but I can't wait to go back and see it once the flowers have bloomed.
We stopped at my apartment to grab something to eat before heading to my school. Though I gave her the option to go out and explore, Abbe wanted to come to my classes with me. She sat through Italian language, Intro to Political Science, and Italian Life and Culture. In my Political Science class my teacher didn't even notice that Abbe wasn't a student. For Italian Life and Culture we watched a movie called Ciao Professore. We had three movies to choose from and the other two were not happy movies so we chose this one. It was a wonderful movie about a teacher being transferred to southern Italy and changing the lives of his students for the better.
Tired from the day and needing to be up and well rested for the next day, we cooked dinner at my apartment and went to bed relatively early. We woke up early Wednesday morning to have our free breakfast at our hotel. It was a great spread with an even better view. After our lovely breakfast, we walked along the Arno to my Business class. I usually have two Business classes on Wednesday but the second one was canceled since we had a large online test due that day. We went on a walking tour with the one class I did have. It was a tour of some of the local businesses around our school. We went to a variety of shops from a wig shop to a wine bar.

Once the tour was done we headed to the city center for our challenge of the day: climbing the Duomo. We not only climbed the Duomo but the smaller dome and the bell tower. We also went inside the cathedral and Duomo museum. It was give or take 1,000 steps up and down the Duomo, dome, and bell tower but it was worth it. We could see all of Florence! The Duomo had the steepest steps and tightest stairways. Once you reach the top, there are benches to sit and enjoy the view and telescopes to see the other ends of the city. 

The view of Florence was phenomenal and worth the sore muscles. We rewarded ourselves with some gelato before heading back to our room so I could take my Business test and Abbe could relax for awhile. My Business test took longer than expected so we made dinner at my apartment and ate with my roommates. We went back up to our room after dinner to do face masks, watch a movie together, and go to bed.
Again, this morning had an early start. We needed to check out of our room and bring our stuff down to my apartment before going to our 8:00am appointment to see the David!! We rushed with my roommate Erinn and made it just a few minutes early to our entry time. We joined our group and got a guided tour of the museum. I quite enjoy guided tours because of the information they tell you because I wouldn't find those facts out on my own.
The David is gigantic! I had no idea the statue was so large. The replicas around Florence don't do it justice, it's just magnificent. While taking pictures of it, Abbe and I figured out that the Snapchat filters work on The David and it was quite funny. It was so exciting to see a world renowned masterpiece with my best friend by my side.
With our brains stuffed with info about Michelangelo and the David, we realized our stomachs were growling. Erinn, Angelina, Erin, Abbe, and I got brunch at this cute little cafe called Les Vespe. Everyone in my program loves this place! It's American and Canadian style breakfast and lunch food. I hadn't planned on taking Abbe here but we needed breakfast and it was a little early for some good pasta.
After a yummy brunch, Erinn, Angelina, and Erin headed to their field trip and Abbe and I went back to my apartment to actually back up our stuff. She brought me some clothes so I sent some home with her. I also had to pack for Milan. Abbe is flying out of Milan on Saturday so I'm going to go up to Milan for the weekend. We finished packing and, with our luggage in tow, headed back to school. Again, she sat through Italian language, Intro to Political Science, and Italian Life and Culture. This time my Political Science teacher did notice she wasn't a student. We left my Italian Life and Culture lecture slightly early to catch our train to Milan. Abbe, Erinn, and I are on our way to Milan now and can't wait for a fun weekend even though I know I'm going to cry when I say goodbye to Abbe on Saturday.